The Bay Area Reporter could only point to one openly LGBT federal judge in the United States, Deborah A. Batts, in an article examining the lack of LGBT representation on the national bench.

The paper quoted Raben Group founder Robert Raben as saying that the dearth of LGBT judges is “absurd.”

“The reason is twofold: judgeships are appointed positions, and the appointers aren’t champing at the bit to take on the political fight of confirmation; and, more importantly, the key standard for qualification remains this amorphous thing called ‘judicial demeanor.’ As a practical matter, that has been interpreted as the legal equivalent of ’straight acting,” he said. “At the federal level (read: Congress), not enough of the voters (senators) have been able to bring themselves to believe that openly gay folks are fit for the bench. That’s sad.”

The Bay Area Report writes:

There currently are 54 vacancies in the federal judiciary, with more to come, particularly if Congress approves an expansion of the court that stalled during the last session. Several appeals courts have multiple vacancies, such as the Fourth Circuit, which stretches form Maryland to South Carolina and has been called the most conservative; and the D.C. Circuit, which plays a national role through cases involving federal regulations.

Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund pressed the case for “fair and impartial nominees to the federal bench who will address issues facing [the LGBT community] without bias,” in a January letter to Obama and the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which confirms judicial nominations. It also urged the president to consider diversity in his nominations, including members of the LGBT community.

The organization did not press for individuals by name as judicial nominees generally are chosen from within geographic boundaries of the circuit, and many factors come into play in making those choices.